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One in seven ‘think it’s fine to pad claims’

2008-08-28T00:00:00+01:00

TV show highlights fraudulent claims.

One in seven Britons believes it is acceptable to exaggerate an insurance claim, according to a survey conducted for ITV1.

The survey, which looked at people’s attitudes to insurance fraud for the ITV1 series Fiddles, Cheats & Scams, also found that less than a quarter (23.9%) of Britons would report someone for making up an insurance claim.

The ITV show, which was broadcast on Tuesday, includes footage from the Insurance Times Fraud Question Time, which took place in June. It features quotes from the Insurance Fraud Bureau and panellists such as AXA’s Richard Davies.

Fifty-six per cent of the 2,700 survey respondents could understand why someone might make up an insurance claim to clear their debts and 22% would even sympathise with someone who took that course of action. Six out of 10 of us believe that the majority of people would consider fiddling their insurance.

Nearly three-quarters of people believe that insurance premiums are overpriced and 89% say insurance companies are out to make as much money as they can from people.

More than 12% of people also said they had thought of exaggerating an insurance claim, but only 3% admitted to actually doing it.

Lord Charles Brocket, who appears in the programme to discuss his attempt to cheat his insurance company out of £4.5m, said people had a different standard of honesty when it came to insurance companies.